Yarn crimping apparatus



Oct. 1955 D. A. E. MATTINGLY 3,212,157

' YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 28, 1962 5 Shets-Sheet 1 1 IHIIIHHHIHIIIIIIII lllll INVLryTo/d $5M}; ALBEW Du/rPKp Maw/7161 Max WK m Oct. 19, 1965 D. A. E. MATTINGLY 3,212,157

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 28, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 19, 1965 A, E. MATTINGLY 3,212,157

YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Filed Nov. 28, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I win/7291a \DEN IS ALBERT EDUHRD MnrTnmLy Q5) M/m-l m United States Patent 3,212,157 YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS Denis Albert Edward Mattingly, London, England, as-

signor to The Klinger Manufacturing Company Limited, London, England, a company of Great Britain Filed Nov. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 240,551 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 29, 1961, 42,726/61; Nov. 29, 1961, 42,728/61; Apr. 4, 1962, 13,030/ 62; Nov. 22, 1962, 44,135/ 62 8 Claims. (Cl. 28-1) This invention relates to yarn bunching apparatus for yarns which are capable of being bunched after being raised to an appropriate temperature, and is applicable inter alia to the bunohing of nylon 66, and which apparatus is of the kind provided with means for moving yarn through a bunch-ing zone which is bounded by a part of a periphery of a rotatable wheel so that the yarn bunched in said zone clings to the wheel and moves with it out of the bunching zone and means for drawing the yarn off the wheel and winding it on a take-up spool or the like.

According to this invention an apparatus of the kind refered to is characterised in that means are provided for enclosing the yarn as it extends around a part of the periphery of said wheel and means are provided for heating the yarn while it is so enclosed and is clinging to the wheel.

The means for enclosing the yarn may comprise a member having an arcuate groove into which a. part of the periphery of the Wheel, with the yarn on it, projects and means are provided for heating said member.

Means are also preferably provided for heating the yarn prior to its entry into the bunching zone.

A feature of the invention consists in that there is pro vided, in a yarn bunching apparatus of the kind referred to, means for tensioning the yarn while being heated prior to its entry into the bunching zone.

The degree of tension may be such as to draw the yarn i.e. permanently stretch it.

The means for moving the yarn into the bunching zone may comprise a pair of driven rollers disposed close to said zone and between which the yarn passes.

A second pair of rollers may be disposed on the entrance side of said heating means and means may be provided for driving the rollers nearer the bunching zone at a greater peripheral speed than that of the other pair of rollers whereby said tensioning or drawing of the yarn is effected.

Means may be provided for driving said rotary wheel at a lesser peripheral speed than the speed at which the yarn enters the bunching zone thereby determining the nature of the hunching e.g. the number of crimps per inch.

In the case where a pair of rollers is provided for feeding the yarn into the bunching zone, a part of the end of the aforesaid member which is provided with the arcuate groove may project into the bight formed between the rollers so that said groove communicates with said bight. For example, said part extending int-0 the bight may be wedge shaped in cross-section so as to fill the greater part of the bight and has a hole in it through which the yarn passes, which hole extends from the narrow part of the wedge to said arcuate groove into which the aforesaid rotary wheel projects.

The term. bight is used to define the space between the rollers on the delivery side immediately adjacent the locality where they approach one another most closely.

The aforesaid wheel may be arranged to rotate either about an axis transverse tothe axes of rotation of said rollers and substantially parallel to a plane containing both of them or is rotatable about an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the rollers and disposed away from them in a plane extending mid-way between them or offset from such a plane, and which arcuate groove extends around a part of the periphery of the wheel in the direction of its rotation away from said hole.

The aforesaid member having the arcu-ate groove may be provided with an electric heating element sothat the yarn may be heated after being bunched.

Preferably the periphery of the wheel is serrated or toothed.

The invention includes within its scope a method of bunching yarn which consists first in tensioning or drawing the yarn whilst subjected to heat and then passing the yarn through a bunching zone where it is again heated while being bunched.

It will be appreciated that the yarn requires to be brought to a certain physical condition, sometimes referred to as set, in order that bunching may be permanent. The method of bunching according to the present invention is characterised in that the yarn may be preheated to permit a required degree of shrinkage according to the properties of the crimp required before passing to the bunching zone where it finally acquires the requiredstrength of crimps i.e. degree of resilience by a second heat treatment.

Other features are set out in the following description and claims which description is of two embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a part of the aforesaid wheel having a portion of its periphery projecting into a groove in an arcuate member which in its turn is arranged to project into a bight between two feed rollers (not shown);

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line 22 of FIGURE 1 the rollers being shown in chain dotted lines;

FIGURE 3 is a part perspective view of a preferred form of grooved member for accommodating the periphery of the wheel and also showing the mechanism for driving the rollers and for heating and tensioning the yarn before being bunched;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through a part of said grooved member shown in FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a side view looking in the direction of the arrows 55 of FIGURE 4.

Referring to FIGURES 3 to 5 the yarn to be bunched is drawn off a bobbin 62 by a pair of rollers 63 and passes over an arcuate heater 64 which is heated by an electrical resistance 65 and means 74 provided for controlling the temperature of the heater in order to obtain the required properties of the finished yarn.

The yarn then passes between another pair of rollers 19 arranged as close as possible to the heater although in FIGURE 3, for ease of illustration, the transmission for driving the rollers is shown between them and the heater. The rollers 19 are mounted on shafts geared together at 58 and one of the shafts is driven from a motor 59 by a transmission 60.

The rollers 63 are driven from the other of the shafts carrying the rollers 19 through a transmission 66. In the case where the yarn is to be tensioned and drawn while being heated the peripheral speed of the rollers 19 is about four times that of the rollers 63.

In the case where the yarn is to be tensioned Without being drawn, the peripheral speed of the rollers 19 may be about the same as or only slightly greater than that of the rollers 63. The linear speed imparted to the yarn by the rollers and the temperature and time during which it is heated depends on the nature of the yarn, its denier, whether it is to be only tensioned or drawn and the properties it is to have when passing to the bunching zone. The values of these factors for yarns including nylon 66,

Perlon, Terylene, polypropylene lie between the following limits.

Temperature 140 C.'240 C. Time of Heating .1.5 seconds. Linear Speed of yarn 1000 to 1500 feet per minute.

At these figures the length of the path on the heated body 64 over which the yarn passes may range between 1.7 feet to 12.75 feet. For the longer lengths the yarn may be constrained to move by pegs or grooves in a zig zag fashion over the heated body.

In certain instances the rollers 63 can be dispensed with and the required shrinkage will be controlled by the speed of the yarn related to the length and temperature of the heater 64.

Arranged above the rollers 19 is a disc-like wheel 14 of small axial width having a toothed periphery 24a which wheel rotates about an axis parallel to the axis of rotation of the rollers 19 and offset from a tangential plane common to the two rollers.

A part of the periphery of the wheel projects into a groove 12 formed in an arcuate metal element provided with electric heating elements, not shown. The lower extremity of the arcuate element has secured to it a wedge shaped portion 18 which projects into the bight between the two rollers 19. The portion 18 is recessed at 16 to accommodate parts of the rollers 19 which are of small axial width (as best seen in FIGURES 4 and A hole 21 is arranged to extend from the smaller end of the wedge-shaped part and is widened at its upper end where it meets the arcuate groove 12. One side wall of the hole is convexly curved at 70 so as to merge with the groove. A plate 71 is secured to the other side of the member and substantially closes the end of the groove but is slotted at 72 so as to permit the passage of the toothed periphery 24a of the wheel 14.

The smaller end of the wedge shaped part is spaced away from the closest point of approach of the two rollers so as to provide a small closed space where bunching may commence. It will be seen that the bight between the two rollers and the general axis of the hole 21 lie on a line at right angles to the plane in which the axes of the rollers lie and which line is offset from the axis of rotation of the wheel 14. The said line, however, may intersect said axis of rotation. Also the general axis of the hole 21 may be inclined to a line passing through the axis of the wheel 14 into the bight between the rollers 19.

The toothed periphery of the wheel gathers up the bunched yarn moving it along the groove in the arcuate element which encloses the bunched yarn and heats it so as to bring it to its final required state.

The shaft 15 (FIGURE 1) of the wheel 24 is driven from the motor 59 through a transmission 67 including a gear box 73 so that the peripheral speed of the wheel 14 is less than the peripheral speed of the rollers 19 and in the case where the hole has a mean diameter of about 7 of an inch the ratio of the peripheral speed of the wheel to the peripheral speed of the rollers is between about one to one hundred and twenty and one to four hundred and sixty according to the nature of the yarn and the form required.

In one example 410 denier nylon 66 yarn having 68 filaments, each filament being of tri-lobular cross-section, was bunched, the yarn entering the rollers 19 at 1000 feet per minute. The heater 64 was at 220 C. and had an effective length of 4 feet and the arcuate element was at 200 C.

The rollers 19 were 1% inches in diameter and rotated at 2170 revolutions per minute. The wheel 14 was 5 inches in diameter and rotated once every 0.37 minute.

In a second example the conditions were as in the first example but the wheel 14 rotated once every 0.3 minute. The yarn received a less number of crimps per inch than in the first example.

In a third example the conditions were the same as in the second example but the yarn was 540 denier and each filament was of circular cross-section. The yarn received a greater number of crimps per inch than did the yarn in the second example.

In a fourth example the conditions were the same as in the first example except that the yarn was of 1040 denier and the wheel 14 rotated once every 0.17 minute. The yarn received a greater number of crimps per inch than did the yarn in the second example.

In a fifth example the conditions were the same as in the first example but the yarn was 250 denier Terylene having 48 filaments of circular cross-section. The heater 64 was at C. and the arcuate element was at 180 C. The wheel 14 rotated once every 0.16 minute. The yarn received more crimps per inch than did the yarn in the second example.

In these five examples the rollers 63 rotated at the same speed as the rollers 19.

In a sixth example the conditions were the same as in the first example but the rollers 63 were omitted and the heater 64 had an effective length of 12 feet. The yarn produced had the same number of crimps per inch as the yarn produced by the first example but the former yarn contracted less than the latter yarn when allowed to contract freely from a straight condition.

A yarn similar to the yarn made by Example 6 was made by using the same conditions as in Example 6 with the heater 64 having an effective length of 4 feet, the wheel rotating once every 1.11 minutes and the speed of the yarn being 333.3 feet per minute.

The yarn after leaving the wheel 14 passes through a tensioning device 68 to winding mechanism 69 which may be driven from the motor 59 through a transmission preferably embodying means which maintain the speed of winding constant with respect to the rate at which bunching takes place, and which means form no part of the present invention.

In the arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 the axis of rotation of the wheel 14 is arranged to be transverse to and above the axes of rotation of the rollers 19 and parallel to a plane containing those axes. The part 10 is in the form of an arcuate element and is for the most part rectangular in cross-section.

Instead of having a separate wedge-shaped part attached to its end as in FIGURES 3 to 5, its end is cross slotted at 20 to permit the entering of parts of the peripheries of the rollers 19 and the bottom of the slot 20 is wedge-shaped and bounded by arcuate faces 17 which enter the bight between the rollers 19.

The inner periphery of the arcuate element 10 is formed with the groove 12 having a narrow mouth 13 through which extends the toothed peripheral portion of the wheel 14 which wheel is disc-like in shape and is secured to the shaft 15 which extends clear of the arcuate element 10 and is driven in the manner described with reference to FIGURES 3 to 5. The side faces of the arcuate element 10 are provided with arcuate grooves 11 for accommodating electric heating elements (not shown).

A hole 21 extends from the bottom of the groove 12 and terminates at the narrow end of the bight between the rollers 19. The locality 22 where the disc-like rollers 19 most closely approach one another is disposed beyond the end of the hole 21. The peripheral speed of the disc-like wheel 14 is arranged to be less than the peripheral speed of the disc-like rollers 19 and thus the yarn is bunched in the hole 21 and in the space 23 immediately beyond the hole.

The bunched yarn not only engages the periphery of the disc 14 which may be toothed as indicated at 24a but also flows around the side faces of the disc. The disc-like rotatable member 14 draws the yarn with it out of the upper end of the groove 12 as shown in FIG- URE 1 and the bunched yarn then passes to a rotating package which accumulates it.

It will thus be seen that with the structure of the invention the arcuate or curved element extends between its entrance and discharge ends substantially along an arc of a circle whose center is in the axis of the rotary toothed wheel which extends at its periphery into the groove which is formed along the inner periphery of the arcuate element 10. At the region of its entrance end, this arcuate element 10 extends substantially tangentially to the periphery of one of the feed rollers 19, as may be seen from FIG. 4 where the entrance end of the arcuate element 10 is substantially tangential to the right roller 19. Thus, the rollers 19 are situated in the immediate vicinity of the entrance end of the arcuate element 10, and the wedge-shaped part 18 extends into the bight between the feed rollers 19 and is formed with the bore 21 which communicates on the one hand with the nip of the rollers 19 and on the other hand with the entrance end of the arcuate element, so that the yarn need only pass through the relatively short bore 21 in order to reach the entrance end of the groove 12 of the arcuate element 10. This relationship, of course, applies to the embodiment of FIG. 2 as well as to the embodiment of FIG. 4, and it will be noted that in both cases the bore 21 is tapered and has its narrow end adjacent the nip of the rollers 19 and its wide end adjacent the entrance end of the arcuate element 10. It will be seen that the axis of the bore 21 is substantially perpendicular to a straight line which extends perpendicularly across the parallel axes of the rollers 19. The parts 68, 69 form a take-up means for receiving the crimped yar-n from the open discharge end of the arcuate element 10, and of course the element 64 forms a heating means for heating the yarn in advance of the pair of feed rolls 19.

A guide block 83 extends into the bight between the rollers 19 on the opposite side thereof to the wheel 14 which block is provided with a hole 84 through which the yarn extends. The block may also be provided with an electric heating element (not shown).

The rollers 19 may also include electric heating elements.

Also the wheel 14 might be heated. A thermostat may be associated with any of the heaters for maintaining the temperature constant.

With the above arrangements in which the peripheral speed of the rollers 19 is greater than the peripheral speed of the rollers 63 the yarn is prevented from shrinking and therefore from appreciably setting while passing over the heated body 64 and is only allowed to set or complete its setting after passing between the rollers 19 into the groove 12 and while on the wheel 14 within the groove. The yarn being a comparatively poor conductor and radiator of heat will carry its heat with it to the bunching Zone where it is no longer under tension.

I claim:

1. In a yarn crimping apparatus, a stationary curved element having entrance and discharge ends and extending between said ends substantially along an arc of a circle, said curved element having an inner periphery formed with a groove extending from said entrance and to said discharge end of said element, a rotary wheel having a toothed periphery extending into said groove of said curved element, drive means operatively connected to said wheel for rotating the latter, a pair of feed rollers located in the immediate vicinity of said entrance end of said curved element and having peripheries respectively located closely adjacent to each other to form a nip therebetween to engage yarn and feed it toward said entrance end, and a wedge-shaped part extending into the bight between said feed rollers and formed with a bore communicating with the nip of said feed rollers and with said entrance end of said curved element so that yarn is fed by said feed rollers through said bore of said wedge-shaped part into said entrance end of said curved element, the toothed periphery of said wheel engaging and conveying the yarn along said groove while preserving the yarn in the condition in which it was delivered thereto.

2. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, said feed rollers having parallel axes respectively and said wheel having an axis parallel to said axes of said feed rollers.

3. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, said feed rollers having parallel axes respectively and said wheel having an axis perpendicular to the parallel axes of said feed rollers.

4. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, said feed rollers having parallel axes respectively and said bore of said wedge-shaped part having an axis which is substantially perpendicular to a straight line extending perpendicularly across the parallel axes of said feed rollers.

5. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, said bore being tapered and having a relatively small end adjacent the nip of said feed rollers and a relatively large end adjacent said entrance end of said curved element.

6. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, said entrance end of said curved element being substantially tangential to one of said feed rollers.

7. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, heating means situated in advance of said feed rollers for heating yarn prior to feeding of the yarn by said feed rollers toward said entrance end of said curved element.

8. In an apparatus as recited in claim 1, take-up means receiving yarn from said discharge end of said curved element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,575,781 11/51 Barach 19-66 2,686,339 8/54 Holt 19-66 2,751,661 6/56 Shattuck 28-1 2,914,810 12/59 Robinson et al 28-72 X 2,914,835 12/59 Slayter et al 28-72 X 2,917,806 12/59 Spence et al. 2872 2,924,001 2/60 Gundlach 19-66 X 2,974,392 3/ 61 Timbie 28-1 3,022,545 2/62 Wylde et al. 19-66 3,023,481 3/62 Scragg 2872 X 3,024,517 3/62 Bromley et al. 28-72 3,027,619 4/62 List et a1. 2872 X 3,058,167 10/62 Rainard et al. 19-66 3,076,250 2/63 Baer 281 3,090,096 5/63 Schwartz 19-66 X 3,096,558 7/63 Rainard et al 2872 X 3,108,352 10/63 Haigler et al. 19-66 X 3,110,076 11/63 Trifunovic et al. 19-66 X 3,111,740 11/63 Stanley 19-66 X 3,146,512 9/64 Heijnis 28-72 X 3,153,272 10/64 Mattingly 28-72 X FOREIGN PATENTS 230,339 9/ Australia.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. RUSSELL C. MADER, MERVIN STEIN, Examiners. 

1. IN A YARN CRIMPING APPARATUS, A STATIONARY CURVED ELEMENT HAVING ENTRANCE AND DISCHARGE ENDS AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID ENDS SUBSTANTIALLY ALONG AN ARC OF A CIRCLE, SAID CURVED ELEMENT HAVING AN INNER PERIPHERY FORMED WITH A GROOVE EXTENDING FROM SAID ENTRANCE AND TO SAID DISCHARGE END OF SAID ELEMENT, A ROTARY WHEEL HAVING A TOOTHED PERIPHERY EXTENDING INTO SAID GROOVE OF SAID CURVED ELEMENT, DRRIVE MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID WHEEL FOR ROTATING THE LATTER, A PAIR OF FEED ROLLERS LOCATED IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF SAID ENTRANCE END OF SAID CURVED ELEMENT AND HAVING PERIPHERIES RESPECTIVELY LOCATED CLOSELY ADJACENT TO EACH OTHER TO FORM A NIP THEREBETWEEN TO ENGAGE YARN AND FEED IT TOWARD SAID ENTRANCE END, AND A WEDGE-SHAPED PART EXTENDING INTO THE BIGHT BETWEEN THE SAID FEED ROLLERS AND FORMED WITH A BORE COMMUNICATING WITH THE NIP OF SAID FEED ROLLERS AND WITH SAID ENTRANCE END OF SAID CURVED ELEMENT SO THAT YARN IS FED BY SAID FEED ROLLERS THROUGH SAID BORE OF SAID WEDGE-SHAPED PART INTO SAID ENTRANCE END OF SAID CURVED ELEMENT, THE TOOTHED PERIPHERY OF SAID WHEEL ENGAGING AND CONVEYING THE YARN ALONG SAID GROOVE WHILE PRESERVING THE YARD IN THE CONDITION IN WHICH IT WAS DELIVERED THERETO. 